The International Slavery Museum: Their Spirits by Laura Facey

Their Spirits showcases the work of internationally acclaimed Jamaican artist Laura Facey. The centrepiece of the exhibition is Facey’s spectacular installation, Their Spirits Gone Before Them. This cottonwood canoe, almost five metres in length, features 1,357 resin figures within it. The figures represent enslaved Africans transported to Jamaica during the slave trade. Facey’s work celebrates the transcendent nature of the human spirit, when faced with the indescribable cruelty of slavery.

Facey’s work communicates the resilient, transcendent nature of the human spirit. Previously exhibited at the World Bank in Washington DC, Their Spirits represents Facey’s most dramatic work to date. She is best known for her 2003 work Redemption Song, which stands at the entrance to Emancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica.